The invention generally relates to apparatus and methods for surgery. More specifically, the invention relates to apparatus and methods for the surgical formation of anastomosis of physiological vessels.
It is a common surgical procedure to join together two or more physiological vessels, such as intestines or blood vessels. The three main types of connections include: end-to-end, end-to-side, and side-to-side connections. As these structures often carry fluid, the connections formed must be at least substantially complete around the entire surface. Traditional means for connecting together these structures include the use of sutures or staples.
Placing sutures by hand around the circumference of a vessel is often very difficult and cumbersome due to various factors. These factors include space limitations at the typical surgical site and attachment of the desired surgical vessel to or containment within various other structures. Such limitations impede manipulation and cause difficulty in accessing remote sides of the desired surgical vessels.
Additionally, blood vessels such as the coronary arteries, or those vessels used to form bypasses, are small in diameter and have very thin walls. The thin walls cause these vessels to adopt a collapsed configuration during handling which causes difficulty in handling and positioning the vessels.
An object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for placing multiple sutures during anastomosis of physiological vessels.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method for placing multiple sutures during anastomosis of physiological vessels.
An apparatus for placing multiple sutures during anastomosis of physiological vessels includes a crown portion having a plurality of strands connected together by one or more circular bands. The strands each form a point at one end with a curved hook at the same end. The curved hook acts as a suture to retain one or more of the vessels.
An alternative embodiment includes a plurality of strands, or wires, that are inserted through one or more vessels to simultaneously place multiple sutures.
The present invention also comprises a method for placing a plurality of sutures simultaneously with an apparatus.